Architects Symposium on the Opportunities of Renewable Energy
An event sponsored by the German Chamber of Architects BDA & Stiebel Eltron, the largest manufacturer of water heaters in Germany, stimulates the discussion on the possibilities that enormous, renewable energy resources provide and how they can be can be used. Various topics have been included in the day-long event at the Empire Riverside Hotel in Hamburg, Germany.
Guest speaker Halil Dolan, a German Architect from Los Angeles, California presented the provocative question: “Today, in the age of population explosion and shortage of resources, professionals in architecture have to ask themselves what they have contributed in the last four decades toward protecting the environment. Apart from the introduction of world-wide energy saving standards, the development of the architecture industry has been merely reduced to going through various architectural styles. The roots for environmental concern have been marginalized, and therefore opportunities for environmental protection have been missed.”
Tajo Friedemann from international real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle illustrated the building situation from the perspective of the real estate industry, Dr. Kai Schiefelbein, Managing Director of the Technology Department of Stiebel Eltron, inspired the approximately 150 present architects with a practical presentation on the Integration of renewable energy in today's architecture and informed about the different products that use renewable energy in current buildings.
The event ended with a visit of the Plus Energy House which was built and designed by the internationally renowned architect Prof. Manfred Hegger and his students from the TU Darmstadt for the Solar Decathlon 2007 competition in the U.S. The project has won the first prize and is an ideal example of sustainable architecture with efficient building services from Stiebel Eltron.
Also Andreas Denk, chief editor of the magazine "the architect" led the event as a moderator and predicted a fundamental change in architecture and compared these developments with other historic upheavals in the architectural history. Dr. Reiner presented two urban development projects in Duesseldorf and Aachen which are equipped with the heat pump system and demonstrated the connection of social and economic sustainability.
Below: Image of First Prize Project Entry of the TU Darmstadt for the Solar Decathlon 2009.
